[ale] ALE meetings, leadership

[Eric Z. Ayers]

Summary:

* Thank you to Jere McDevitt of Home Depot for coordinating space
     for the past year for our montly meetings.  Unfortunately,
     we are not going to be able to continue to meet at Home
     Depot Corporate Headquartsrs.

* We are looking for a new space to meet starting in September.
     So far, we have had an offer of space at Emory University
     Law School.

* The ALE leadership needs some fresh blood.  Me and my fellow
    'ale-admin at ale.org' list members are soliciting folks to
    help lead the group.  Please volunteer by sending email
    to ale-admin at ale.org.

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* First of all, I would like to thank Jere McDevitt for his support of
    the Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts (ALE) over the past year.

    Content-Type: applause/wild
    Length: long

    Jere was responsible for procuring the meeting place and
    taking responsibility for the actions of the group while we met at
    Home Depot corporate headquarters.   Jere had to attend every
    meeting and lock up the space.

    We aren't being "kicked out" of the meeting space for something
    obnoxious, like installing a real operating system on their
    projection system (hmmm, they might have appreciated that),
    but rather, Jere will be unable to attend every meeting and
    we were unable to find another Home Depot employee to step into
    Jere's role for another six months.


* The call went out at the last meeting to find another place to
    meet, starting in September of this year. Those arrangements are
    still being made.  We've had several  suggestions on where folks
    would *LIKE* to meet on the mailing list.  Geographically, I
    think Kansas City would be the most central place judging
    from the responses of members, or maybe Hawaii, if you count the
    ALE member  from Japan.

    Practically speaking, if the group is to continue to have physical
    meetings, the group must find a place in or near Atlanta that is
    both large enough (up to 100 attendees), inexpensive enough
    (free, anyone?) and most of all willing to accommodate the
    members of the group one evening a month.

    Some corporate entities besides Home Depot have offered in the
    past (New Horizon's Learning Center and Multi-User Solutions
    offered a year or two ago), but we didn't need the space
    at the time, or the venue was not large enough to accomidate 100
    people.

    We've had one offer this go round from Harold Bieber
    of the Emory University Law School to meet there (thanks Harold.)
    Vernard Martin and Chris Farris, both members of the
    'ale-admin at ale.org' mailing list, are trying to
    work out arrangements for meeting.


* I feel the group is at a crossroads. Obviously, the mailing list
    is still very active, and there are a lot of neat ideas flying
    around there. Meeting attendance is strong at 40-60 people per
    meeting.  However, at one time, we averaged over 100 per meeting,
    and garnered enough enthusiasm to support a massive annual
    Linux event in Atlanta.

    When this crisis with the meeting place came up, it
    became pretty clear that we needed some new enthusiasts involved
    in leading the group.  Unlike Jere, I have not been able to
    attend many meetings in the last 12 months.  Due to professional
    and personal commitments,  I am not going to be able to be
    effective at continuing to lead the group in the same
    capacity as I have been for the past 7 years.

    There are still others on the 'ale-admin at ale.org' list
    doing other work.  I mentioned Chris and Vernard.
    Sue Bauer-Lee does the monthly meeting announcements.
    Greg Hankins maintains the mailing lists and handles free
    stuff that people want to give away at the meetings, and
    Robbie Honerkamp holds the 'ale.org' domain name
    registration on the group's behalf.

    ALE needs someone or some people to fill in for the roles of
    Jere and myself:

     - Securing a meeting place for the group on an ongoing basis.
     - leading the meetings (or making sure there is someone to
              lead the meetings.)
     - Maintaining the web site
     - Finding and co-ordinating speakers for meetings
     - Answering email to ale-admin at ale.org

    If someone has strong ideas for leading the group into
    new directions, this is your opportunity.   At a minimum,
    it just needs someone to answer a few emails, edit the
    website, and make a few phone calls every know and
    then. But without that minimum amount of work, the monthly
    meetings just aren't going to happen.

    You don't have to be the most knowlegeable about Linux or
    have attended every meeting in the past, or even keep up with
    all of the email on the 'ale at ale.org' mailing list.  Please
    volunteer by sending a message to ale-admin at ale.org.

Regards,
-Eric (and the rest of ale-admin at ale.org)

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